Nozzle and diaphragm for turbines.



PATENTEDSBPT. 17, 1907.

RL H. RICE. NOZZLE ANDDIAPHRAGM' FOR TURBINES.

APPLIUATION Erm) FEB. a. 1907.

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Inventor;

Richard Hice, @MM

UNITED STATES' RICHARD n. RICE, OE

PATENT OEEICE.

SWAMPSCOTT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSICNOR To GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY5 A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK. f

"NOZZLE AND DIAPHRAGM FOR TURBINES.

No.' soeces.

To all whomt'tmay concern:-`

Be it known that IJ RICHARD H. RICE, a citizen of the United States, -residing at Swampscott, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts; have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Nozzles and Diaphragms Yfor Turbines, of which the following is a-specificatiorl; i i

The present invention relates tonozzleshaving sheet metal partitions Which are cast into the support when the latter is made. l

The invention also relates to the construction ofl diaphragms `having a nozzle or nozzle passages which exg ume of motive fluid to be handled is large.`

j phragm. I

, .4.represents one'of the nozzle partitions of Lshape '50 The invention has for one of its objects to provide a nozzle of `improved construction wherein ythe nozzle partitions are firmly anchored by mechanical means in the cast metal forming the body of the support.

A further Objectis to provide a diaphragmof improved lconstruction wherein the nozzle partitions not only serve as suchbut also ac t asbeams to support the central portionl of thediaphragm against the pressure to which it is subjected. l

For a consideration of what I believe to be novel and my invention attention is 'directed to the accompanying specification and claims appended thereto.

I n the accompanying drawings which are-illustrative of the invention, Figure lis a section of a diaphragm and nozzle taken on line ll of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a partial plan view of the outer portion of a dia- Y phragm; Fig. 3 is a sectiofrtakenv on line 3 3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the` nozzle partitions clearly showing the conugatedside portions which afford a mechanical union with the cast metal of the diaphragm or other support; Fig. 5 is a plan view of a diaphragm wherein the central portion is supported solely by the partitions; and Figs.` 6 to 9, inclusive, show modified forms of the anchoring means.

l represents the outer portion of the nozzleor the diaphragm as the case, may be andl 2 the inner portion.

thereof. The inner portion may take the form of a ring having a shoulder 3 to receive the peripheral portion of the central or inner part\of the diaphragm, or it may form an integral portion of in longitudinal section.V It is made out of sheet steel, usually by a punching o'c..ration. The sides are-then corrugated at 5 to afford a mechanicel securing or anchoring means. Stated broadly, the mctalforming the Speccation o'f Letters Patent. p Application filed February 8,1907. Serial No. 356,297.

v handling. the central part 'of the dia- Patented sept. 17,'190'7.

will belfirmly anchored against strains'tending to pullA them Out `of themetal in which they are embedded.V

Where the strains are comparatively small on each partition, one deflection on either side of the plane of the body will generally be found sufficient but where 'they are comparatively large it will be found' best to deflect the metal rst on` one side and then'on the other of the plane of said partition,

' Attempts have been made heretofore to anchor the partitions in the nozzle support by perforating them at one or more places near the sides to receive molten metal when the casting is made. My experience has demonstrated that this arrangement does notresult in a good anchor for the reason that` the metal -will not always flow into and fill the perforation; second that the small amount of east metal in the perforation has no particular strength; third that perforating the sheet metal partitions weakens it; and fourth that it is impracticable to increase the width ofthe ypartition to give more stock between the perforation and a side of the partition because it makes it more difficult to obtain good castings. v

VAfter the partition has been cut tothe desired dimensionsand the sides corrugated, it is put in a suitable' die and bentto the desired shape. One end 6 of each partition forms@ part of the throats 7 of two ads jacent nozzle sections or passages and the opposite tions may be parallel to each other or not, the desired relation of throat to discharge area beingl determined bythe opposed sidewalls l() and ll of the nozzle support. The throat ends of the partitions are cut away at 12 so that it will b'e unnecessary to machine them afupon the requirements. The portions 8 of the partiter the casting'is made. vI may turn up theupper` surfaces of the casting adjacent to the portions or leave them unnishedas desired. The under surface of the j diaphragm will-be finished where it rests on a shoulder in the wheel casing. Usually the partitions will terminate slightly inside of the bottom surface of the diaphragm to prevent injury eith'er in machining or in lItis impbrtant to have discharge-ends of the partitions occupy radial positions4 because the sharj pened edges of the wheel buckets occupy corresponding position and the passages should discharge in a manner to fill the bucket spaces. Owing to the fact that the opposed surfaces of the inner and outer por-- tions of the nozzle 'support are of dierent diameters,

lit

the partitions would have to be of a complicated shape` ifboth top and bot-tom edges were to stand exactly radial. I avoid this objection and also direct the iiuid particles in straight lines by making the partitions rectangular' with parallel opposing edges and bending them crosswise in a plane perpendicular to the length. The partitions are then inserted in the core in such manner that the lower edges are strictly radial with respect to the axis ofthe machine, the upper edges coming as they will and occupying non-radial positions. The core determines .he radial dimensions o the nozzle passages which is considerably less than the width oi the partitions. By reason of this arrangement I am able to get uniformly spaced partitions which direct the motive Huid in the proper direction to fill the bucket spaces, and also to reduce to a minimum the losses due to eddies. A nozzle made in this manner requires no careful finishing ol the passages and thus eliminates a very large item of expense in manufac-l ture. Any rough spots can ol course be removed by tooling in the usual way. n y

In Fig. 5 is shown a diaphragm 13, the inner portion of which is supported solely by the partitions 4, ln this case the partitions 'act not only as such but also as beams, of which there are a. great many, to transfer the pressure on the inner to the outer portion. Breakdown tests made with the construction described show that with abnormal pressure in lthe central portion of the diaphragm the partitions will yicld'at a point in side the portion I of thc diaphragm without the anchoring means yielding. These break-down tests were made with hydraulic means and' thc pressures used per square inch were far in excess of those met in operating turbines und-cr prey ailing conditions.

Instead of corrugating thc side portions ol the partitions l`or anchoring purposes, I may bend or displace thc metal in other ways. *For example, the sides l5 may be inclined as in Fig. (i. The metal of one sidc may be deflected in one di ction and that of the other sid c/in the opposite direction, or part oi the metal ol` one side may be bent in one direction and the rc- Inaindcr in the opposite. ln Fig. 7 the side portions are corrugated to form a Vshaped section 1G. In Fig. 8 the sido, portions are provided with parallel' slits anda wire 17 threaded through the slits so that it is exposed first on one face and then on the other ol` the partitions. Inthis case as before the sides are bent or deflected from the normal plane ot' the partition to form an anchoring device. In Fig. 9 the sides are folded bacli on the main body portion to accomplish the same purpose. i v

In accordance with the provisions of thc patent statutes, l have described the principle 'oi operation of my invention, together with the apparatus which I new consider to represent. the best embodiment thereof; but l desire it to be understood that. the apparatus shown is only illustrative, and that the invention can he carried out by other means.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is,-

i. A nozzle for :in elastic fluid turbine comprising n metal support having an orifice and one or more partitions extending across the orifice and entering the support on bolli sides, and an anchoring device for each partition which is formed integral therewith and-is embedded in the supp-rt.

L. .l nozzle for an elastic fluid turbine comprising a metal i. :pport having an orifice with"one or more sheet meta partitions extending across the orifice, the sides of which are cast into the said support when thevlatter is formed. and an anchoring device for each partition which is formed by bending or deilccting the stock of which the partition is composed out of its normal plane.

3. A nozzle for an elastic fluid turbine comprising a metal support having an' orifice, and one lor more partiA tions extending across the orifice, the ends of said partition being corrugated and seated in said support.

4. A nozzle for an elastic duid turbine comprising a cast metal support having nnoritice, and one or more partitions which are cast into the support and extend across the orifice, the sides of each partition being corrugated in the direction of their length to form -an anchoring means.`

5. A nozzle for an elastic uid turbine comprising a metal support having an orifice, one or more partitions extending across the orifice and anchored 1n the support, the discharge end of the partition being radial to the axis of the machine and the receiving end non-radial.

G. A nozzle for an elastc duid turbine comprising a cast metal support having an orifice, one or more partitions' which extend across the orieend-axe cast into the'support, the said partitions having pniallel ends and sides,

the space and divide it into nozzle passages and f orm the sole suppe-t for the said inner' member.

A diaphragm comprisingmn-'outer and inner member separated by a space through which motive` fluid passes.

sheet metal partitions which extend across the space, di-

vide the same into passages and form the sole support for the inner member of the diaphragm. D. A diaphragm comprising an outer and inner'member vseparated by n space through which motive fluid passes,

sheet metal partitions which extend across the space. di-

rtions forming the sole support for said inner members,A and a diaphragm which is 'carried by said inner member.

11. As an article of manufacture, a sheet metal nozzle plate having sides that are detiected from the plane ot! the body to form an anchoring device.

12. As an article of manufacture, a rectangular sheet metal nozzle plate," corrugated in the direction of its Les' length to form anchoring means and L shaped in, longitudinal section.

In witness whereof` I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of February, 1907.

' RICHARD H. RICE.' Witnesses:

JOHN A. MCMANUS, Jr., HENRY 0., Wns'inNDoRP. 

